The choice for freedom or

comfort
By Sifeddine Akaaboune
Throughout the history of humanity there have been many
examples where some choose to live a pleasant life free of
pain and pressure; a life of comfort. Friedrich Nietzsche
explains that some seek comfort in alcohol and religion; the
‘sklavenmoral’(slave moral) is how he defines it, in other
words: using excuses due to their cowardice of obtaining
what they want.

Two great European

narcotics, alcohol and
Christianity.

(Friedrich Nietzsche)
Others choose to live in freedom, best defined as “the
territory where you have to culture and mature yourself to
exist free, it's being able to be yourself”, by Sadhguru.
Simply looking into the area of Art; Artists such as Pablo
Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and many others have chosen
to explore their understanding of the world through their
art free from the constraint of the mindsets forced upon
them by the society they lived in.
Art is two things: a search
for a road, and a search for
freedom.

(Alice Neel)
How does the knowledge and perception of an individual
change the way others interact with the world around
them?
We can explore this in the area of History
Racism in America; where there have been many countless cases concerning freedom
of the people.

We can look into this thought process through History and see how it has affected us
up until now.

The relation between racism, freedom and comfort.

 Black codes in America
1865 - 66
(Among other things)

These laws disarmed formed slaves.

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/b
lack-codes
The comfort sought in racism
During a short period in the 19th century, America
created laws called the Black Codes which were
aimed towards the black community.

One of these laws denied black people the right to bear arms. This allowed for the
white community to sustain white control in America.

But why does this white control matter so much for the white community?
This discrimination was (among other reasons) in fear of black people. But from
segregation of race came solitude; a solitary mindset. The government created a society
that encourages discrimination of the black community.

But as John Locke says,

“So far as a Man has a power to think, or not to think; to move, or not to move, according to the preference or
direction of his own mind, so far is a Man Free.” (E2–5 II.xxi.8: 237)

Which leads me to the thought that the belief in racism was enforced in the white
community, therefore, white control was not a choice for freedom nor a free choice
and only existed to create an environment of comfort for the white community.
A claim that could come out of this situation would be
The freedom of choice is only an illusion if we bind ourselves to a concept and ignore
other possibilities. A result in change will enable us to progress and for communities to
develop, with potential risks. Seeking only predictable outcomes and comfort will
prevent change and therefore create a sustained mindset in the community that will
result in isolation and in some ways discrimination.
One counter claim could be that
Although freedom will enable change and growth, comfort will provide a sustainable
development for a society. The greatest impact comfort can have in a community is
that it can achieve a consistent growth; freedom provides more growth but comfort
allows for a safer one. In other words, comfort will not prevent growth, it will ensure
safety and a slow but definite growth. Freedom has its risks and requires for individuals
to act and create a change.
How can we relate this to Religion
During 262 BCE Ashoka the great conquered Kalinga. But the bloodshed makes him
remorseful, and he turns towards non-violence.

He followed the path of Buddhism which led him to focus on rebuilding his empire
and never went to war again.

Following John Locke’s quote, this decision was not that of a free man. Ashoka made
this decision to protect his people not simply himself. He created an empire where the
people could live in comfort, all that by following the Buddha’s teachings.

Religion will bring comfort to the people and help develop communities as a whole in
safety.
During the 16th century France had
gone into a war of religions.

The protestants and Roman catholics had gone into conflict which resulted in
bloodshed. The comfort that religion may have brought now resulted in blood.

François-Marie Arouet(Voltaire) was against the idea that men can kill each other to
defend some bit of religious doctrine, which they scarcely understood.
This leads me to the thought that

Comfort is only there to bring balance between the opinions of each individual to be
able to live harmoniously as a community. However, from the example of the conflict
that arose in France, religion created a false sense of comfort for most.

The world around us is shaped not by one person but by a collection of different
thoughts.
Freedom In Mathematics
“Freedom is an important feature in mathematics because one is free to conceive of any new ideas one wants in
mathematics.” - Fiacre ò Cairbre

Throughout history and possibly in the future as well, new concepts which became
breakthroughs in mathematics have been discovered by great mathematicians that
were free to explore and conceive any ideas no matter how bizarre it may have seemed
to others.

The discovery of an irrational number by Hippasus in Ancient Greece was one of many
example of freedom in mathematics.

“The essence of mathematics lies in its freedom” - Georg Cantor

How does the knowledge and perception of an individual change the way others interact with the world around them?

Mathematics nowadays is known by many for being complex, and a large number of
the population believe that there is no freedom in mathematics leading to the
perception that there is only one way to understand it.

The idea of complex numbers came from the Italian mathematician Bombelli. This
concept was created through pure imagination; the freedom in mathematics allowed
Bombelli to come up with a mathematical concept( by trying to solve cubic equations
in the 16th century). Now these complex numbers are fundamental for engineers to
understand the physical world.
The freedom in mathematics allows mathematical concepts to be created simply
through imagination, and these can change the way others perceive the world around
them such as the example of Bombelli’s complex numbers.

Once these mathematical concepts are created everyone must see it in that way,
although the creation of those concepts arise from the freedom to think however one
wants mathematics cannot be seen in the same way as art. We may use these concepts
in different ways to find new theories, but we cannot bend those concepts to portray
an emotion or thought.
In conclusion

Communities do not all share the same perception of the world around them, but
when an idea is enforced/shared to another community their interactions with the
world will also change; their interaction could change for the better or worse.

Our perception of the world and how it should be will affect the people
around us and how they interact with the world.
How does the knowledge and perception of an individual change the way others interact with the world around them?

The Black codes were created to enforce white control and affected the black
community massively. Through it, individuals developed their own perception of the
society they lived in which was affected by the perception the government .

The practice of Buddhism brought peace and prosperity to Ashoka changing his own
way of interacting with the world and led his Empire to comfort and safety.

The mathematical concepts made by great imaginative mathematicians helped us

comprehend and create new theories to understand the world better. With their
knowledge we have created different opinions and changed the our perception of the
world we live in.
References
Rickless, Samuel. “Locke On Freedom.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 Jan. 2020,
plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-freedom/.

History.com Editors. “Black Codes.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 1 June 2010,
www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes.

Anderson, R. Lanier. “Friedrich Nietzsche.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 17

Mar. 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/.

Life, The School of. “PHILOSOPHY - Nietzsche.” YouTube, YouTube, 10 Oct. 2014,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHWbZmg2hzU.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Wars of Religion.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 25 Mar. 2016, www.britannica.com/event/Wars-of-Religion.

Cairbre, Fiacre Ò. FREEDOM IN MATHEMATICS AND ITS EDUCATIONAL VALUE, 2013,

mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/6987/1/FOC-Freedom.pdf.